Boys Cross Country Wins Portage Invite; Peers Honor Tennis Coach; Girls Golf Wraps Up Season

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY — Hartland's impressive tournament season ended with its third win Saturday at the Portage Invitational.

"That's how our team is kind of built," said head coach Matt Gutteridge. "We got a nice pack. We work together. We can score a low number in these races."

The Eagles' 96 points were the lowest of the 39 teams and with Saline's 145 points capturing second with rivals Grand Blanc and Brighton coming in third (153) and fourth (155).

Pacing the Eagles was senior Ian McGinn, who was fourth overall with a 15:56. Following behind were: Sean Pengelly (eighth, 16:06), Alex Gietek (19th, 16:32), Jareb Duggan (22nd, 16:37), Brendan Gavitt (44th, 16:55), Patrick Gavitt (135th, 17:56) and Grant Hamilton (146th, 18:04).

While the team has soared at the larger races with wins in a early season conference meet and the Midland Invitational, it hasn't done as well in dual meets with a 1-3 record. But Gutteridge said the main goal is to qualify for the state finals at regionals — another multi-team contest.

The coach also credits past teams for building a culture of hard work and discipline that's paying off this season.

The Eagles have one more dual meet this Tuesday vs. Pinckney at home before the upcoming conference and regional races. Gutteridge said the team will follow its training plan that should give runners a chance to for their fastest times of the year.

"We're going to keep focused and keep doing the hard work," he said.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY — The girls team finished 14th out of 33 schools at Saturday's Portage Invitational with junior Avery Evenson taking second in 18:09.

"Avery did a nice job today," head coach Mary Rinkus said. "I was very pleased to see her take 17 seconds off her season best time despite the heat of the day."

Other varsity finishers were: Natalie Halonen (56th, 20:35), Megan Skinner (102nd, 21:37), Anna Hense (109th, 21:44), Denise Grezeszak (117th, 21:58), Allison McGinn, (118th, 21:58) and Taylor Pryde (153rd, 22:37).

Rinkus also singled out Emily Braid and Donna Kert for earning medals in the JV race, finishing 26th and 34th respectively.

Friday

BOYS TENNIS — Hartland ended its best season in recent memory with a fourth place at regionals Friday in Novi while head coach Judy Jagdfeld was voted Regional Coach of the Year by her peers.

"I have had the best boys tennis team that I have had in the last eight years," Jagdfeld said. "I feel that they could have advanced further than the regional had they not been in one that had three state ranked teams in the top 10 in the state."

The Eagles reached the semifinals in five of the nine flights, but fell six points from qualifying for the state finals behind Catholic Central, Novi, and Northville.

Reaching the semis were: No. 2 singles Ben Johnson, No. 1 doubeles Cameron Sloan and Derek Andreen, No. 2 doubles Andy Cabush and Adam DeRubeis, No. 3 doubles Dennis Gess and Nathan Retich and No. 4 doubles Maverick Tessler and Steven Knudson.

Hartland (10-3 overall) ended the season with a fourth place finish in the conference tournament and took second in its division with a 4-1 record behind Grand Blanc.

In winning the coach's award that's picked by coaches in the regional, Jagdfeld called it a "great honor."

"I think anytime an award is presented by your peers you know that know what you have worked for an achieved," she said. "I could not have received this without the great showing of my team and I give them full credit for playing to the best of their ability under my guidance.

"I also would like to give credit to my assistant coach Dan Steiner for the experienced team I fielded this year. Dan you also own this award."

FOOTBALL — Hartland lost 28-6 Friday at Grand Blanc. Now at 2-5, the loss ended any chance to qualify for the post season. Hartland Patch of the game.

Thursday

GIRLS GOLF — Hartland finished a disappointing sixth at regionals three places from advancing to the state finals Thursday, but head coach Mike Joseph said he's proud of the Eagles effort.

"It was not our day," said Joseph, adding players struggled with their short game but "battled hard."

The Eagles shot 385 at Prestwick Village Golf Club in Highland Township as Davison won the regional with a 347. Brighton was second and Milford finished third to take the other two spots to move on.

Senior captain Brooke Kastamo led the Eagles with an 87. Kelsey Erickson shot a 97 while Rachel Byron carded a 98 and Claire Seekley finished with a 103.

Both Kastamo and Byron earned all-conference honors Monday for their 94s at the conference tournament in which Hartland finished 5th at Lakeland Golf Club.

The Eagles finished the year with a 4-6 record.

BOYS SOCCER — The varsity and JV team each battled Howell to a 0-0 draw on senior night, according to Patch User Linda Bowen.

Tuesday

BOYS AND GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY — Racing against Grand Blanc, the girls team won 18-45 while the boys team lost 20-35 on Tuesday.

Hartland girls took five out of the top six places, with junior Avery Evenson winning the race in 19:49.

Other finishers were: Natalie Halonen (second, 20:36), Megan Skinner (fourth, 21:43), Anna Hense (fifth, 21:49), Allison McGinn (sixth, 21:55), Taylor Pryde (seventh, 22:02) and Denise Grezeszak (eighth, 22:43).

"The team ran well today," head coach Mary Rinkus said in an email. "The girls worked at running in packs and focused more on race awareness and placing well than on personal times. Eleven Hartland girls finished between Grand Blanc's first and second girls."

In the boys race, Grand Blanc took the top four spots, according to an article on mLive.

With the win, the girls team are now 2-2 in dual meets while the boys dropped to 1-3.

Both teams next race Saturday at the Portage Invitational.

VOLLEYBALL — Hartland lost to Grand Blanc on Tuesday in five games.

The scores were: 25-14, 25-23, 17-25, 16-25 and 7-15.

Head coach Nicole Conely said many on the team performed well despite the loss.

Lynsie Giroux, she said, commited only one serving error out of 25 attempts. Hannah Guilford had eight kills and 17 digs while Melissa Summerfield had 10 digs.

The team next plays 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Howell at Hartland High School.

Monday

HARTLAND HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS — Swimmer Erica Mehlberg sliced through a pool like never before in a performance that was good enough for her to earn athlete of the week honors Monday.

Mehlberg, a senior captain, set personal bests as well as winning both the 100-yard fly (1:05.89) and the 200-yard invididual medley (2:24.12) in Thursday's win vs. Pinckney, said girls swim and dive coach Maria Puranen. Mehlberg's 56:34 in the first leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay also helped the team set a new pool record of 3:47.57 in the event.

"(She) was a major force in our win," Puranen said.

In addition, Puranan cited her achievement in the classroom that includes a cumulative grade point average of 4.09.

Fenton State Bank sponsors the high school's athlete of the week program.